Pitcher Brandon McCarthy won’t be returning to the A’s, who has reportedly agreed to a two-year, $15.5 million contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The deal, first reported by a radio station in Phoenix, hasn’t been officially announced by the Arizona club pending a physical, but the right-handed pitcher already was receiving congratulations via Twitter from several former Oakland teammates.

McCarthy wasn’t available for comment, but his wife Amanda effectively confirmed the deal when she offered her thanks to A’s fans via Twitter for their support the past two seasons.

McCarthy, almost as well known for his own Twitter repartee as his pitching prowess, went 17-15 with a 3.29 ERA over two seasons with Oakland, including 8-6 with a 3.24 ERA this year.

His 2012 season was cut short by a serious head injury suffered when he was struck by a line drive off the bat of the Angels’ Erick Aybar on Sept. 5 in Oakland. McCarthy underwent two hours of emergency brain surgery after it was determined he had suffered an epidural hemorrhage, brain contusion and skull fracture. He missed out on the A’s postseason.

While he was absent from the club during his recuperation, his teammates hung his uniform jersey in the dugout. He returned to the club during their American League Division Series against Detroit, but was not on the roster and had not even begun playing catch. He was supposed to begin doing that this month and then start throwing some bullpen sessions in January

McCarthy also missed time during both seasons due to a shoulder blade stress fracture issue that has plagued him throughout his career. He made 25 starts in 2011 and just 18 this past season.

It has been evident since the season ended that re-signing McCarthy would be a luxury the A’s probably couldn’t afford. His new deal with Arizona will pay him an average of $7.75 million a year for two seasons, which is nearly triple what the A’s paid him for the last two. McCarthy earned $1 million in 2011 and $4.25 million last season with Oakland.

Moreover, even though he was popular with fans and teammates and had expressed a desire to return to the club in 2013, McCarthy probably became expendable when the A’s re-signed veteran Bartolo Colon on Nov. 3 for $3 million plus incentives.

Prospectively, the A’s have a five-man rotation set with Brett Anderson, Jarrod Parker, Tommy Milone, A.J. Griffin and Colon. Dan Straily, who started for Oakland late in the year, is also a rotation candidate, and Oakland also has three prospects in the wings — Brad Peacock, Sonny Gray and A.J. Cole.

The A’s have already traded two pitchers, Tyson Ross and Graham Godfrey, who were in their rotation this past year. Godfrey was shipped to the Boston Red Sox on Thursday as the player to be named later in a Nov. 28 deal for relief pitcher Sandy Rosario, whom the A’s subsequently designated for assignment.

Carl Steward has been a sportswriter for Bay Area News Group newspapers for more than 40 years, covering all manner of sports as a beat writer, columnist and jack-of-all-trades reporter. He has covered numerous Super Bowls, World Series, major golf tournaments and even did turns covering horse racing's Triple Crown and soccer's World Cup. He has also written the popular light-hearted "Darting Here and There" column for many years.

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